Convergence by Divergence
by nisha. joan
Summary: When Trunks went back to the past, he knew he was creating a divergence in time, that would change the future of his past. What he didn't know was he had allowed lives to converge, yielding unexpected changes. Follow the legendary story as new people enter the z fighters' lives...please review!
1. a 'normal' morning

Blue sky, polka dotted with white clouds, green pastures, serenity, and two peaceful snoring noises. Yep. Just an usual morning at mt. Paozu. Chichi hummed to herself as she made breakfast for her dear little family. The amount of food was by no means little. But Chichi really enjoyed preparing meals for Goku and Gohan. Their beaming faces when their tummies were full were just too adorable.

Gohan woke up. He stretched himself and snuggled back in his sheets, unwilling to let go of its comforting warmth. He lay awake, lazily listening to his father's soft rythmic snores. A random bird chirped on the window sill. Gohan glanced at it, instantly frightening it away. He turned his gaze to the beautiful sky. "Just eight more days", he thought to himself.

"Breakfast!"his mother called. A flurry of bedsheets, a falling pillow, and Goku was already halfway to the dining room. Gohan blinked once,then twice, then shrugged. Well, why was he surprised? This was normal, wasn't it? He chuckled to himself as he heard his mom shout at his dad for not brushing his teeth before coming for meal. Entering the bathroom, he got a dollop of toothpaste on his 'genius' brand brush and stared at it. Normal. Was everything normal? The morning, the environment, the shouts of his mom together with the pleads of his father -what was out of normal? Gohan sighed. For every day of the last 3 years, his mornings had begun with light training, then long hours of studying followed by rigorous training, in which he would often pass out. He had got so used to it that now the normal seemed, quite abnormal. And abnormal it was. Who relaxed like his father when the threat for which they had been preparing for the last 3 yrs was just 8 days away? He shrugged off his thoughts. "Just relax and stay cool Gohan", he said to himself.

"Yummy! Thanks mom!" Gohan complimented as he gulped down the last bite of his breakfast.

"Yeah, Chichi. You're a genius! ",Goku added."Now I think I'll go for some training. Coming, Gohan?"

Before Gohan could say anything Chichi interrupted,"Gohan will come, but first..."She fished out a long sheet of paper from somewhere and turned to her son.

"Gohan, run to the grocer's and bring me everything that's on the list."

"But mom, the list's huge!", Gohan whined. "Can I..."

"No young man. You can't go later. If our dear friend Cell destroys all the shops, then? Oh, my! You guys will be the first to starve!"

"Staarve?!", yelled Goku at the top of his voice. He turned sharply to Gohan, "Son, go and bring the foods. Show Cell what a true saiyan can do."

Defeated, Gohan sighed. "Fine. I'll go.", he said. He took the list and money and flew off.

Chichi ran to the door and shouted,"Take care, Gohan! Don't fall for sweet words of strangers, and don't fight, and..."

"Yes, mom!" shouted back Gohan and blasted off, leaving an anxious Chichi and a relaxed Goku at the doorstep

."He will be all right, won't he?", she said, staring into space.

"Chichi! ", exclaimed Goku in a mild scolding tone.

"I know, Goku. But..."

Goku said nothing. He just put a comforting arm around her and pulled her closer to himself

An hour later, Gohan was halfway back home. He was matching the contents of the list to what he had just bought."Fifty litres milk, check! Twenty dozen eggs, check! Thirty..hey!" The list had slipped from his grip and was falling down. He didn't want to fly fast, lest he destroyed some thing he had bought. He gently flew down and put down the things, and began searching for it.

"Oh there you are!", he exclaimed. The paper was lying on a rock. He casually walked towards it. Suddenly he stiffened. He had heard something. A faint, almost inaudible sound.

The light breeze took the paper with it and caught his attention. He flew and caught it, shrugging off scary thoughts. "Phew", he said as he landed. He turned to go but stopped and turned around again. His eyes had caught something shining in the distance. Curious, he walked up to it. It was a small puddle of half dried sticky fluid which certainly wasn't water. He dipped his finger in it hesitantly.

"Blood?!"


	2. save the soul!

A/N: 1. Goku and Gohan do not keep their ssj forms after returning from korin's tower. They decided to do so just for the last 5 days before cell games.

2. I do not own db or dbz, and I don't want to own dbgt and I certainly don't.

3. I DO own my OC , whose name is, to be revealed in the story.

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"Blood?!"

He looked around cautiously. Everywhere around, he could see easily steep cliffs and barren land. But even with his sharp saiyan eyes he could spot nothing out of the way. He spread his senses. But still, nothing. He shrugged, trying to shoo off his fears. He thought nervously to himself, "No worries, Gohan. Maybe Mr. Rex had a meal here. Well, I am getting late. Must get going. "

He ambled toward his groceries. Halfway through, he stopped again. Were his ears playing tricks? He was sure he heard something this time. He closed his eyes and concentrated. After a while, when he was almost giving up, he felt something. a tiny source of ki, flickering in and out of existence. A ki of a creature that was about to die. His eyes shot open. Whatever it was, he had to save it. He sprinted to the end of the cliff from where he had felt the ki. Sunlight streamed into his eyes. Squinting, he peered down. His heart jumped to his throat when he saw a white mass of clothes. A human!

Gohan shot down at full speed, praying that he would be ok, praying that he would not have to witness another death. He knelt down before the person, , his heart thumping loudly in his chest. The clothes that had appeared white from above now showed signs of dust and, huge patches of blood. The height wasn't much too, even less than his. The face being buried in the dust, he gently held the injured body and turned it. He gasped, his eyes grew wide in shock and horror. He was looking at the face of a young girl!

Her eyes were shut tightly. Her face, arms, and every part of exposed skin had dark purple bruises and numerous gashes. As Gohan cradled her up to his chest gently, she stirred. The fingers of her right hand which was completely in shreds quivered a bit. Her bloodstained lips broke open into a crack and a groan escaped her throat; the sound had a striking resemblance to what he had heard earlier. Gohan's chest clenched into a tight knot. "You'll be fine. Just hang in there, just for a little while longer.", he whispered. He knew his words were not reaching her. But he whispered again,"I'll take you to my father, he will do something. Just hold on."

He picked her up gingerly and made her head to rest on his chest. He took to air and shot off in the direction of his father's ki signal, his mother's groceries and anger, all forgotten. It took him only seconds to reach the field where Goku was training. He looked up, sensing his son's ki. His eyebrows furrowed instantly seeing the load he was carrying. As he touched ground, Goku motioned to him to put her down.

"Go and bring the senzu beans, Gohan. ", he said, his voice dead serious. Gohan nodded and went off. Goku knelt down and put his hand on her foreheard. "Bastards", he muttered under his breath, obviously directed to the ones responsibile for her state.

Gohan entered his little house through the open window. He paid no heed to his frustrated mother's questions. "Senzu Senzu", he chanted frantically."On the table? No, in the wardrobe? No,no no! Oh in the drawer,yeah, that's it!"

"Just you dare to use the window instead of the door one more time, Son Gohan, and I'll...", threatened Chichi. A blur that flew out of the window cut her off midway. Chichi stood there stunned, then sank to the ground on her knees and let her years fall. "My son, my little baby!", she wailed."My baby disobeyed me! My baby has become a delinquent! Waaah!"

"Here's the senzu dad. Can you make her eat it?"

Goku nodded,"I do hope so."

He prised open her jaws with a swift twist of his fingers, crushed the bean and put it inside her mouth. Then he carefully took her head in his arms, allowing it to slide down and finally massaged her throat to induce swallowing.

"Come on, swallow!", he insisted.

Gohan just looked on with bated breath, his heart pounding loudly in his chest.

It took only a few moments for the magic to perform. The purple patches on her skin slowly reverted to the usual tan and her cuts visibly closed. Gohan could swear he heard bones snapping back to place. Seconds later, her eyes opened slowly. She looked up groggily at the two faces poring over her. Then her eyes shot open. In a trice she sat up. She stared at her limbs, amazed. Then she tried her wrists and fingers.

"Strange", she muttered. "I don't remember being taken to the hospital! "

She suddenly seemed to notice the two people looking at her. "I got it! Am dead, ain't I?", she screamed. She looked at Goku and Gohan.

"Are you dead too? ",She asked innocently."Hey this is heaven or hell? And couldn't they just let me have a shower? I smell!"

"Um, just for your information, you aren't dead.", Gohan put in.

The girl looked startled. "I ain't?"

"Nope!", grinned Goku. "Though you are really close to it for sure. I don't know what happened, but we should take you home. Your parents will be worried to death!"

"No they won't. They are already dead"She faced the ground and began tearing blades of grass.

"Cell destroyed our entire village. Two days ago. I was the only survivor."

It took some time to digest the news. Goku looked at the girl in concern while Gohan looked shocked beyond words. Losing your home was bad enough but losing both daddy and mama? No way! He subconsciously edged closer to his father.

"What's your name? " asked Goku softly. "I'm Goku and this is my son, Gohan"

The girls busy fingers stopped tearing the helpless blades of grass.

"My name?"

"Yeah"

"My name is..um.."

"Huh?"

"I'm Pate. Nice meeting you" She performed a quick bow.

"Pate, huh? Well, mind telling us what exactly happened before Gohan found you in the state you were in? Did you stumble off the cliff by any chance?"

She bit her lips. "It's a horrible memory", she said softly.

"You'll feel better if you tell us. Count on my eords", said Goku reassuringly.

She looked at him for a moment and then faced the ground again."Well, in simple words, I did stumble, but I stumbled right into Cell. And he whisked me to a pulp."

"What on earth?!"


	3. welcome home

A/N: 1. I hate stating the obvious, but I don't own anything of the dragonball series.

2. I own my dear little OC.

3. IMPORTANT: In my story, senzu beans only heal wounds, nothing else. It doesn't satisfy hunger or do any other miracle I don't know about.

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"What on earth!?"

Pate smiled faintly.,"Yup. That's the truth."

"And you are _alive_!", said Gohan in wonder. Pate gave a puzzled expression.

"Well that's what you told me, Gohan, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but Cell let you live? He spared you?"

"Did I look like he spared me? He...he smacked me about like I was nothing. He broke me like a twig, and it hurt...so much..." She trailed off.

"But now everything is okay." said Goku. "You are alive and well, and we'll never let anything like that happen to you again."

Pate looked up at him beseechingly. It was a wonder that she was not shedding a single drop of tear. "She sure is tough", thought Gohan.

A huge rumble broke the uncomfortable silence. Pate looked around wildly, her eyes struck with panic. But Gohan knew what it was. "Dad!", he exclaimed. "You surely aren't that hungry, are you?" "Well", started Goku. "It's been a while since I had my breakfast. " Gohan rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. More like a long two hours." Goku grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Um, excuse me", said Pate. Goku looked at her. She was shuffling her feet and chewing her lips. "Yes?", he asked kindly. A colour crept to her cheeks. Even someone as naïve as Goku didn't fail to notice it; she was blushing.

"Hey, there's no need to feel shy. Speak up!", he urged. The colour grew darker.

"I was...I was thinking...if you...if I...can get some water and...and..."

"And? "

"Some...some food", she finally confessed, her head hung low in embarassment."I have had nothing for 4 days."

"4 days! ", exclaimed Gohan."Aren't you hungry?"

"I am", said Pate, trying to keep her voice from trembling."Very"

"Well then", said Goku. "It's settled. You are staying at our house, for the time being. Now let's go. It isn't much far from here." Pate nodded, a huge smile on her face."Dad", Gohan interrupted."I'll get mom's groceries. I left them behind on the cliff. I'll be home in a minute. " Goku nodded and Gohan took off. "Oh, oh wow!", said Pate, her eyes wide."You can fly too!"

Gohan was quick to catch her words."Too? "

"Yeah, just like me! See! "

And without any warning she let her feet swing and she began floating and Gohan's jaw dropped."You. ...you...", began Gohan. "Can control your ki!", finished Goku. Pate raised a brow, "Kai? I have one?"

"No Pate, it's ki. It's the energy of your system. Man, this is unbelievable! Who taught you? " Pate shrugged.

"I did it myself. It was not much tough."

Another rumble broke off suddenly. "Dad!", said a frustrated Gohan. "It wasn't me! ", began Goku in protest. "Guys,it was me", sighed Pate. "I suddenly feel very cold and tired. Very hungry too. " Goku helped her to her feet. "We'll walk", He said firmly."You can't afford to use up any more of your energy. " Pate nodded in silence and got up to follow him. Gohan shot off in search of his groceries.

Minutes later they were standing in front of a cute dome house. "Chichi! ", called Goku. "We have a guest!" Chichi came out, her eyes fluffy from crying. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw a girl instead of Gohan. Pate bowed low and introduced herself.

"Good afternoon, ma'am. My name is Pate. Nice to meet you. "

"Please Chichi", said Goku patiently."She has no home or relatives and she's been starving for the last 4 days. Chichi stood there, frowning, unsure of what to do. The last thing she wanted in such times of tension was a ragamuffin in rags who would easily spoil her son. But a part of her was somehow taking pity on her. A part of her wanted the strange girl to stay.

But Chichi was a mother. Her instincts kicked in and she nodded, finally smiling wryly."Fine", she said curtly."Lunch's ready." She earned a huge grin from Goku and laughed lightly. She didn't know what the smile was for, allowing the girl to stay or for the lunch. As if she cared. She just wanted to see him smiling to make her day. Her mood swung a complete 180 degrees. She hummed up a little tune as she laid the table, and didn't even scold Gohan on his arrival. Goku certainly knew how to work out wonders!

Lunch was good and, for Chichi, a busy one, as she had to serve three voracious stomachs instead of just two. Pate did not eat as much as the boys, but she tackled the food as if she hadn't eaten for days, which, ironically, was true. All through the meal, Pate kept looking across her shoulders with astonished eyes. Finally understanding the thing that aroused such great interest in her, Chichi said nonchalantly,"Oh, that? Those are the plates and cups that my dear husband and son broke during yesterday's dinner and today's breakfast. It happens all the time." As if on cue, Goku's glass shattered into three pieces. Chichi sighed. She knew it was useless to scold them; they could not help being insanely strong. Pate looked at the demonstration with wide eyes and nodded in understanding. She jumped off her chair and walked to the pile of broken things to inspect them, ignoring Chichi's grunts at her bad table certainly wasn't her day!

Pate stood and frowned. Gohan looked at her out of the corner of his eye, wondering how on earth she could put down a plate of her mother's gorgeous cooking midway through it. But he himself put his plate down, stunned. He saw two broken pieces fly up in the air. He nudged Gokh, who looked, his mouth full of food. His jaw hung open. The two broken pieces flew near to each other. A blue light glowed around them, they merged and an intact ceramic plate landed on the table top. Pate nodded in satisfaction. The other scraps soon met the same fate. Pate strutted back to the table and dug into her food again.

"Wha...what was that?", mouthed Chichi, her eyes the size of her newly resurrected saucers.

"Oh that", Pate gulped down the food in her mouth. "That's just a way of saying thank you. Aren't you happy? I thought you would be", she ended ruefully.

"Yes...but...no...but...HOW?"


	4. Fitting in

A/N: I don't own anything related to my all time favourite series...*sniff* I don't own dragonball z.

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"Yes...but...no...but HOW?"

Pate looked at Chichi curiously, then shrugged, " Well, I don't know and I really don't care. I just, do them!"

Chichi was still in shock, her jaws dangling open.

"You don't like it? "asked Pate in a small voice. "I'm...I'm sorry. I thought you would be happy. So...I.."

"Hey, no! That was just great! ", exclaimed Goku, his voice sparkling with genuine excitement."You have any idea how much of control you need to do that? Wow!"

"So you aren't mad at me?"She asked hopefully.

"Mad? Why should we be mad?"

Gohan nodded vigorously in consent. Chichi was regaining her composure and she gave a small smile too. Goku saw this and sighed inwardly in relief. He had feared that his wife might start calling her a monster and was happy that she hadn't done so. He didn't want to put Pate in more agony than she already was.

"Hey, Pate, can you teach me that? It's so cool!", piped up Gohan.

Pate shook her head, "I don't think so. This may sound weird, but I have no idea how these work. I just, just do them."

"So you mean to say that no one taught you? Not even this? "

"Exactly"

Goku was listening with a look of interest on his face and he finally opened his mouth, "Can you do any more of these? I mean, like can you shoot ki blasts, or..."

"Blast a kai?", asked Pate, horrified.

Gohan stifled a laugh,"He means energy blasts, Pate. "

Pate nodded, "There _are _some techniques I'd like to show you. After lunch... "

"Absolutely not!", said Chichi, banging the table top."I've had enough of your training and bad behaviour, boys. You will go straight to your room for a nap after you finish eating, and Pate? "

"Ye...yes ma'am"

"You are coming with me. I'll wash that dirt and blood off you and give you a new set of clothes. I will absolutely _not _tolerate your running about in those rags. Got it? "

Pate nodded vigorously and looked down at herself. She gasped and felt heat creeping to her cheeks. All this while she had been too tired and hungry to notice that she had been sitting half naked in front of a boy of about her age. Half her shirt was gone, revealing a portion of her abdomen and a shoulder; her trouser was torn at the right knee and as for the left side, it was non-existant halway up her thigh. Gohan looked at her out of the corner of his eye and blushed too. He quickly concentrated on his food before Pate or his mom noticed the redness of his cheeks.

"Gohan, do you have a fever? Your cheeks _are _red."

Gohan almost jumped out of his skin. Gosh, he had forgotten his dad. Trust him to put him in trouble.

"Is it true, Gohan? Do you have a temperature, my baby?", asked Chichi, concerned. Pate looked at him enquringly. He noticed her red cheeks and felt his blush deepen.

"No mom! I'm absolutely fine, I just remembered, that I..erm...I need to pee...yeah...gotta run..." And true to his words, he was out of the room in supersaiyan speed (though h was in his normal state). Chichi stared at the corridor and shrugged, "Boys will be boys." Goku tried to hold back a chuckle as he interpreted her words his way. He hadn't failed to notice the glowing cheeks of both pre-teens

"I'm full, ma'am. Thanks a lot. " said Pate gratefully.

"Your welcome. And you can call me Chichi, ok?" Pate smiled at her and nodded happily,"Sure." Minutes later Goku and Gohan were in their bed for an hour-long afternoon nap. But they were way too excited to fall asleep anytime soon. Gohan placed his head on his father's muscular arm which was astonishingly soft."Dad?" he said after a while.

"Hmm?"

"Can we trust her? Pate, I mean. "

"Well she _is _a bit strange, but well, so are we!" Then he added with a chuckle, "And when my son likes her, she must be really good!"

"Please, dad!" whined Gohan. "Mom'll hear."

"Nah. She's pretty busy with Pate. "

Sure enough, Pate's squeals and Chichi's shouts were audible all the way to the bedroom as the older woman attempted to give her a thorough cleanup. Chichi spent almost an hour bathing Pate and then she dressed her in one of her old kimonos.

Goku and Gohan felt a ki signal approach and glanced at the door. Pate stood there, looking at the floor, an oversized kimono hanging limply from her shoulders. Chichi stood behind her, feeling very proud of herself. She spoke up,"_Now _she looks like a pretty young girl, doesn't she? Takes mettle to do a makeover like this. What do you think of it, boys?"

The boys blinked, then looked at each other knowingly. Finally Goku mustered up the courage and spoke, "Um, Chichi, isn't the dress just a _little _too long for her?

"Of course not!"

"Mom, I think you should check just one more time. Have a look.", said Gohan.

Chichi spun Pate around and inspected,"Let me see, the dress is just 6inches below her ankle. It's okay I guess. Why don't you try walking, Pate? " Pate nodded meekly and tried. Before she took the second step, her feet got tangled in the metres of cloth and she fell with a bump.

"Oww"

In a trice, Gohan was beside her, anxiously looking at her as she regained her bearings.

"You okay?" When she nodded he sighed and helped her up. "Would you rather wear a gi of mine?", he suggested. She stopped rubbing her aching knee and looked at him hesitantly. She began, "Chichi gave me these...and...I...er...if she..."

"Well ", began Chichi. "I really don't appreciate you wearing a boy's clothes, but I don't want you to fall and get hurt all the time. So...till we get you new clothes, you're allowed to share Gohan's. Okay? "

"You won't be upset, will you?"

Chichi smiled and shook her head. "Yay!" cheered Pate, jumping up in glee and succeeding in slipping again. "Watch out! ", warned Goku. But Gohan caught her before she could fall and stood her upright. "You really gotta be careful", he said. She nodded shyly and prised herself out of his grip "Thanks", she said softly.

"We..welcome", stuttered Gohan.

"The gi?"

"Right. Follow me. "

"Um...Gohan? "

"Yeah? "

"Can I hold you?...I mean...I'll slip...and..."

Gohan looked taken aback and reddened.

"If you don't mind, that is...", finished Pate.

"Oh...sure. No problem" He held out his hand and Pate gratefully accepted it, holding it tightly.

"Be careful guy! Don't fall again, Pate! "said Goku, grinning widely, as Gohan led her to his room to get his gi.

"Did I miss something? "said Chichi, thoughtfully putting a finger to her chin.

Goku chuckled and suddenly embraced her. Chichi squealed, then laughed lightly.

"What was that for?" She asked playfully when he softly kissed her cheek.

"For being what you are"

Chichi was surprised to hear such a thing from her husband. She knew Goku loved her deeply and she loved him too, but he wasn't exactly the 'romantic prince' as you call it. It wasn't everyday he spoke like this. Realisation dawned upon her suddenly. Just eight more days...

"Goku? " she whispered, snuggling more into him and nuzzling his chin with her head.

"Hn?" He removed his chin and looked into her eyes

"You'll come back safely, won't you? "

"Wherever did _that _come from? "

"Promise me"

He sighed," Chichi, I don't want to make a promise I might fail to keep. "

The anxiety in her face changed, she was _pleading,_"But..."

Goku cupped her face in his hands and spoke softly and slowly,"But I promise we won't let Cell win _and_ I promise Gohan will be back safely. Promise. "

She hugged him tightly for comfort and hid her face in his gi. Goku stroked the back of her head. Minutes passed without a word and finally Goku relaxed his hold.

"I sense the kids coming. "

Chichi detached herself from him and gave a loving smile before the kids dashed into the room.

"We're ready! ", chirped Gohan.

"Yeah. Now I can show you my techniques! ", said an equally excited Pate clad in Gohan's orange gi while he had on his new purple gi.

"Then let's go!" grinned Goku.

"Yeah! " shouted both pre-teens in unison.


End file.
